Pages tagged "Fiji"

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is calling on the Australian Government to improve labour regulations after the Federal Court found two Fijian workers had been exploited.

Two men who were brought to Australia on the proviso of training were found by the court to be employees, not trainees, of Sydney-based Devine Marine Group, according to the findings released this week.

With the assistance of a $500 MUA grant, the Fijian Maritime Workers’ Association held the International Seafarers Day on June 25, at the School of Maritime Studies in Suva, Fiji.

The commemoration of the International Seafarers Day 2013 highlighted the need to improve the seafaring industry in Fiji as a fundamental step in improving the social and economic well being of seafarers in Fiji and the nation as a whole.

The peak union bodies of Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand have jointly written to their governments warning next year’s Fiji elections will be a sham unless international efforts are stepped up to restore democracy in the Pacific island nation.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) will be calling on the Australian and global governments to rethink their diplomatic relationships with the Fijian government after the announcement of a decree, which bans trade unionists from running as candidates in the 2014 elections.

The action of the peak global employer group in preventing the International Labor Organisation’s annual conference from discussing violations against Fijian and other workers is an outrage, say Australian unions.